Week 9 - Tweets of the Week

What an awesome chat yesterday all about reading!! It was great to see so many kids from all over NZ buzzing about books and sharing their love of reading with each other. This week the tweets of the week go to the children who came up with creative places around the world that they would love to read! 

Looking for an exciting book to read over the school holidays? Check out these books that were suggested by other children on Kidsedchatnz yesterday. 

Awesome Holidays Reads!! - Video Maker

Thank you to those classes who shared books and book trailers they have been busy creating. Check them out below.

By Jonty @Palmysquad

By Finis @Palmysquad

A Minecraft book in the making by an awesome bunch of @Rm1HNS kids. 

Week 9 - Reading!!

Kia ora everyone! My name is Simone Gentil and I'm going to be moderating our Twitter chat this week. This week the topic is READING!! Make sure you check out the questions. There are also two reading challenges that you can complete before Thursday. 

1.    Why is reading important to you?

2.   If you could be any book character who would you choose to be and why?

3.   What are some good strategies to use when you are reading and get stuck on a tricky word?

4.   What is your favourite reading activity to do in your class?

5.   Did you create an eBook this week? Share a link to your ebook. We would love to read them!

6.   What book did your teacher share with you? What was your favourite part?

7.   Suggest a book that would be great holiday read. Tell us why it’s an awesome book.

8.   What things happen in your class or school that encourage or celebrate reading?

9.   If you could choose anywhere to read in the world, where would it be and why?

10.  If you could change a book, which book would you change and how would you change it?

This week there are also TWO READING CHALLENGES that you can complete before the Thursday Kidsedchatnz chat. 

CHALLENGE 1

Create your own ebook and upload it to your class blog. You will have the opportunity to share your book during the chat.  A list of all ebooks shared will be uploaded to the Kidsedchatnz blog after the Thursday chat!

Note: if you don’t have iPads or tablets in your class you could create a paper book and take some photos of your book to share. 

CHALLENGE 2

Ask your teacher to read his or her favourite book to you. One of my favourite books is Scaredy Squirrel at the beach. I will be sharing this with Room 8 this week. You may also like to share your favourite book with a buddy or your class. 

Tweet of the Week

Thank you everyone for a wonderful Kidsedchatnz about Science! It was great to see everyone sharing and talking about all the fantastic things you have been doing in Science this year!

So who won Tweet of the Week.....

Here are some tweets that stood out for me...

And Tweet of the Week goes to....

Week 8 - Science Superheroes

Nanogirl is New Zealand's own science superhero and she is working hard to encourage more children to learn about science. Recently she was the star of What Now, she has visited many schools and often talks to teachers about science in the classroom. Why does she think science is so important for us to learn about?

This week is all about Science and to get you excited about science here are 2 great videos from Nanogirl. You could also watch Nanogirl on What Now by clicking on this link Nanogirl on What Now The times she is on the show are minute 9:48, 18:10, 42:52, 1:10:33 and 1:40:47.



Nanogirl has also conducted a project where she did 100 experiments in 100 days with kids from around NZ, this can be seen here. I highly recommend having a go at some of these experiments this week, either at school or at home with your family. I can't wait to try the Super Taster experiment from Day 55 with my class at Henderson North School.



I hope you can all manage to do an experiment or two, make sure you take photos or videos, and watch the Nanogirl videos before Thursday.

Our questions will be as follows:

Q1. Why do you like learning about science and doing science experiments?

Q2.  What science problems/questions do you really want to solve or answer? Why?

Q3. Nanogirl likes taking natural objects (like the broccoli in the video) and copying their superpowers. What cool superpower would you like to copy from a natural object?

Q4. Nanogirl likes 'Fracture mechanics' or breaking something to see how it works. What would you like to break to see how it works?

Q5. What science have you done at school this week and what did you learn? Make sure you include photos or videos.

 Q6. What science topics have you done at school this year? What did it make you wonder about the world?

Q7. What is the most amazing thing you have learnt doing science at school or home?

Q8. Why do you think it is important to learn science at school? Do we do enough science at school?

Q9. What is the next science experiment you want to do at school? What do you think will happen and why?

Q10. Do you use any Apps, websites or books to help you learn about science?

I can't wait to talk to you all on Thursday. Now where did I put that dry ice...

Tweet of the Week!

Thank you everyone for another fantastic Kidsedchatnz yesterday! There were 550 tweets recorded and again we had a few new classes taking part. 

Anyway who won Tweet of the Week? It was a tough choice but Pascal decided to give it to....

Week 7 - Family

This weeks Kidsedchatnz is all about family. Our families play a huge part in who we are and who we will become. To prepare for this weeks chat, talk to mum, dad, uncles, aunties or grandparents to learn about your family, both past and present. Try to find some interesting stories or facts that you might be able to share.

Try to watch these videos before the session to understand more about how important families are. 


Please remember not to name family members during the chat. Refer to them as Mum, Dad, brother or sister etc.

1. Who makes up your immediate family? (No names, just people ie mum, dad, brother, 2 sisters etc)
2. What position were you born in your family? Oldest? Youngest? Middle? What's it like being that position?
3. What is special about your family? What do you love about your family?
4. Would you prefer to be in a big family or small family? Why?
5. Do you have any family traditions? (Holidays, fun activities etc)
6. How often do you spend time with your grandparents? Do you think it's important to spend time with them?
7. What's the best piece of advice a family member has given you?
8. Share a story about your family. What's something interesting or funny we can learn about them?
9) It's father's day on Sunday, can you send a special message to your dad?
10) Just for fun! Make a poem, sentence or story using these 3 words: Gathering, Proud, Cherish.

Throughout the whole chat, try to ask questions about others families. Maybe look for someone who is similar to you (youngest of 3 kids, only boy/girl in the family etc) and see if they feel the same way about their family as you do. Or ask questions of others who come from a larger/smaller family to try to find out what it is like for them.

Most importantly, talk to your parents/grandparents to find out as much as you can about your family.

Tweet of the week - Gaming's a winner!

Congratulations to everyone who took part in our week 7 chat session - what a massive effort by lots of classes. Here's the final result:

By the end of the session we had recorded over 1,150 tweets in an hour. That's the most we've ever had and shows how popular the topic and @Kidsedchatnz is becoming. Lots of the regular classes were there today and a couple of new classes also, it was great to have you all there.

I (@reidhns1) had a hard time choosing favourites today, there were so many great tweets being sent. Minecraft was the clear favourite amongst so many games that were being discussed and some wonderful photos were tweeted showing things that students had built.

I loved so many tweets but these two were some of my favourites:

Tweet of the week went to someone who really summed up the value of gaming in the classroom: 

Well done Hannah and everyone else who took part today, it was a pleasure being the moderator today and I can't wait to take part in Kidsedchatnz next week.

Week 6 - Games in the classroom

Minecraft is a game many teachers are already using in the classroom. This week we want to discuss ALL of the games you play or might like to play in class and how these help your learning. It's not just the electronic games though, don't forget about all those board games and card games that help your learning.

But first let's play some games! Before you take part in Kidsedchatnz this week try to do at least one of the following:

Tasks:

• Spend some time in class playing any game (online or traditional eg, Minecraft, Scrabble, Monopoly, Once Upon A Time).
• Build your own game and play it.
• Reinvent a game.
• Fill in the Google Doc for types of games you play in the classroom?
• Art of gaming - produce a piece of art that celebrates gaming.

When you do a task make sure you take some photos or videos to share with other classes during the chat.

Questions for this week:

Q1. What are your favourite games and why?

Q2. How does gaming help with your learning?

Q3. What qualities/values/skills have you learnt from gaming?

Q4. How many learning games are being used in your classroom and which of these are the best to play?

Q5. What makes a game fun, interesting and educational?

Q6. If you could reinvent a game, what would you choose to add or change and why?

Q7. Does your class use gaming to collaborate or connect with others children from your school or elsewhere?

Q8. Do you read books or watch videos about gaming, how does this make you a better gamer or learner?

Q9. If your teacher could introduce 1 game into the classroom what should it be and how would it be used for learning?

@Reidhns1 will be your moderator using the @kidsedchatnz handle, can't wait to see you all next Thursday, but until then Happy Gaming!

Kids are Awesome! Kau Mau Te Wehi. - Tweet of the week

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your fantastic tweets today. It was a record breaking chat with over 1,100 tweets recorded.

And the tweet of the week goes to...

Congratulations, Callum!

Ka Mau te Wehi! Kids are Awesome.

Image attribution: angelamaiers.com

This week's KidsedchatNZ was inspired by a cool American Teacher called Angela Maiers.

Angela shares a great message, and it is important for all of us. 

The message is  -

 YOU MATTER.

KidsedchatNZ want you to think about how you are awesome. We want to know how you are a genius. Everyone has their own unique talents and abilities. What are yours? We would love to hear all about them.

Here are some kids sharing their awesome abilities. These kids are great on the sports field, and the dance floor. Your genius might be in music, or writing, or maths. 

You might be a great listener or friend, or both!

Think about how you contribute to make the world a better place.

Have a read of the YOU MATTER manifesto. A manifesto is a public announcement or declaration. There are some important points to think about there. You might like to make a book about your genius, and share it with us. Here are some that @MahoraRm6 have made.




Questions for this week.

Q1. Why are you awesome? What is your Genius?

Q2. What would you like to change in the world around you?

Q3. How do you think that you could do this?

Remember “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love”

– Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Q4. What is the best thing that a Teacher has ever said to you?

Q5. Think of a time when you have achieved a goal. Tell us what this felt like.

Q6. Do you have some learning that you are really proud of? Take a picture and tweet it!

Q7. Name five people that you would put on a "Dream Team" to encourage and inspire you. Are they famous people, successful people, members of your family?

Q8. Why are these people amazing to you?

Q9. What makes you feel proud?

Kia ora tamariki. Kau mau te wehi! We are so looking forward to this week's chat.

Juliet Revell

Tweet of the Week!

Thanks everyone for another great Kidsedchatnz today! It was fantastic to see so many classes take up the NZ Maths Week challenges!

Anyway, who won Tweet of the Week? It goes to Thea from Room 10! She had so many fantastic tweets and definitely deserves it!

W4 - Maths

This week is New Zealand Maths Week so I thought it would be appropriate for Kidsedchatnz to be about Maths!

Below is a whole lot of different Maths tasks that you can get your class to complete during the week. You don't have to complete them all, just pick whichever ones that suit your kids level.

Then on Thursday we are going to discuss the tasks and Maths in general. Here are the challenges!

CHALLENGES

- Use chalk to write a variety of Maths questions on the concrete.

- Use Google Earth (the ruler tool) to find the perimeter of your school.

- Throw a pack of card out onto the concrete and them put them into order as fast as you can. They need to be placed in suits from 2 to Ace.



- Change the left picture into the right by moving only 3 counters!

- Create a Maths Week shape challenge! This can be for your class or even whole school. Details found here: Shape Challenge

- Design your own money!

- Create a basic facts cube! You will need to get your teacher to print off a cube net for you.

- Make 3D shapes using ice-block sticks/tooth picks and plasticine.

- Make a Maths trail!

- Use the app ScratchJr and make a short story or conversation. 

QUESTIONS

Q1. Tweet a picture or video of some of your challenges this week.

Q2. Leave a reply on someone's tweet. Remember to comment on their challenge.

Q3. Reflect on your challenges. How do you think you did? What was hard? Easy? Enjoyable? 

Q4. Write your own word problem for other people to answer.

Q5. Try and answer someone's word problem. Make sure you reply back saying whether they are right or wrong.

Q6. What have you been learning about in Maths? Tell/Explain a Maths strategy that you have learnt this year?

Q7. What are some of your favourite activities that you have done in Maths this year?

Q8. Why is it important to learn about Maths?

Q9. What are some of your favourite Maths Apps that you use in class? Why do you like them?

Q10. Write a short story or poem using these 4 words: Reflection, Triangle, Half and Money

Tweet of the Week

Thank you everyone for a wonderful Kidsedchatnz today! I was so impressed with all your creations and fantastic tweets! 

So who won Tweet of the Week.....

 

 

AND TWEET OF THE WEEK GOES TO.....

W3 - Creativity

This week's topic for Kidsedchatnz is Creativity! 

This is how it is going to work: 

Below is a whole lot of different creative tasks that you can get your class to complete during the week. You don't have to complete them all, just pick whichever ones that suit your kids.

Then on Thursday we are going to discuss the tasks and creativity in general. Sound like fun? You bet!

Tasks

- Turn as many of the blank circle as possible into recognisable objects in 15 minutes.

- How many uses can you think of for a chair in 5 minutes? 

- Print these 2 images and then complete the images. What can you come up with?

- Use these 4 elements and write a short story with them. A lost key, a secret cave, a party invitation and identical twins.

 

 

- Create an original structure using ice-block sticks. You could use glue or plasticine to join your sticks.

- Create a device to stop an egg breaking when dropped from 2 metres. You only have newspaper and selletape to work with.

- Make a 1 minute movie or Puppet Pal about a topic of your choice? Create and record your own song or rap? Make a music video? Come up with your own creative task!

Finally please watch this video before you complete any of the tasks. It will make sense after you watch it.



Questions

Q1. Please tweet a picture or answer to some of your creative challenges from this week.

Q2. Pick someone's Tweet and leave a reply. Make sure you comment on their creative task and design.

Q3. Reflect on your creative tasks, how do you think you did?

Q4. What was the best part about the challenges? What did you enjoy? Why?

Q5. What was the hardest part about the challenge? Where can you improve?

Q6. Do you think creativity is important? Should it be taught in school? Why?

Q7. What do you think are the key elements to building creativity?

Q8. Can you share with us something creative you have done at school this year?

Q9. Is there any creative tasks you would like to try?

Q10. Write a poem or story using these 3 things: A tooth, a broken watch and a good luck charm.